Eight U.S attorneys that were investigating corruption among Republicans were fired by the Bush Administration and the Justice Department in December. The administration claims that the attorneys failed to follow the presidents orders in firearms and immigration policies. In addition, the administration announced that members of the congress were dissatisfied with their performance.
New Mexico Senator, Pete V. Domenici, admitted that he had urged the dismissal of one of the attorneys, David C. Iglesias. The Republican senator also confirmed accusations that he had called Iglesias to inquire about a corruption investigation centered around democrats. However, he denied putting any pressure to speed up the investigation before the elections. Nevertheless, Iglesias maintains that he was pressured by Deomenici, Pearce, and Wilson to speed up the investigation before the elections. He further adds that the refusal on his part to speed up the investigation resulted in his dismissal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/washington/05attorneyscnd.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewan&oref=slogin
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In reading today's Post article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030801087.html
I was struck by this sentence…"Under the previous system, the local federal district court would appoint a temporary replacement after 120 days until a permanent candidate was named and confirmed by the Senate."
Prof. Davis, please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Senate only get the power to confirm a position if that person is a "major" official and not a "minor" official?
It would seem contradictory to say that a federal prosecutor is a "major" official but an independent counsel is not.
The only reasons, based on the decision in Morrison, which I can see that would explain this, would be that in Morrison part of their claims of "inferiority" came from the fact that the independent council has a limited tenure and supposedly a limited scope.
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